Remember when I made a pledge to supplement this space with fresh new content throughout the month of October?

Well that was a bold-faced lie.

As it tends to do, life has gotten in the way of my beloved domain, and thus it’s time to be honest with myself and anybody left reading this blog.

We’re done here.

I’ll construct a more proper obituary in a post at the end of the year, because there actually will be about 3 more – all of which rounding up a period of time by it’s musical highlights. We’ll do the last two installments of “Cool Songs” along with a Top Album/Tracks of the year roundup.

Smart move by Floyd with the 6-14 demographic largely up for grabs in boxing.

For about the 5th time, I’ll start a post with an apology.

After an August that saw a bit of a renaissance around these parts, we damn near laid egg this in September. If it not for an incredible Natty Morrison piece that had been sitting in the drafts for about a month, we assuredly would have given you no original content for 30 days.

I hereby pledge October will be different.

If you pay attention to this blog at all, you’d know that I always make time for a monthly playlist. This is due in large part to the fact I make these into CDs for when I’m sitting in L.A. traffic. I realize this is a very 2004 move.

Also s/o to my favorite Lafayette, Indiana independent record label, Jurassic Pop, who sent me some shit I didn’t order a couple weeks ago. Since they refuse to comply with my desires and put shit on Soundcloud so I can listen to in my car without paying them, I will embed this fantastic track from Nowhere’s self titled album here.

EDIT: The gentlemen of Nowhere reached out on Twitter with a soundcloud link! As luck would have it, it nestled perfectly into the back half.

Let’s put August in the distant fucking rearview, please. That month just didn’t cut it for me.

A Recap of The Month That Was:

Some of you got up in arms about some fairly predictable shit : Starlet kicks off adulthood by pushing the boundaries of her sexuality and experimenting with drugs. Then again, the uproar was pretty predictable in itself. Keep fighting that good fight people…

College Football happened, and I shouldn’t try to escape it this time. Personally, I’m not much of a College Football fan, but 90% of the people I follow on social media love the fucking game, so I was completely bombarded this weekend with unwanted commentary. Well, maybe not all of it wasn’t unwanted. Here’s a friendly reminder of what exists in the south:

Sweet jesus.

A very solid month musically, with one of the better albums of the year dropping in Doris from Earl Sweatshirt. Kendrick Lamar claimed himself the King of New York on his verse in “Control” and the only fallout was a sea of journalists producing paltry quotes from rappers not yet too annoyed to address it. This playlist is a strong one, with a predictably summery vibe that might just be perfect for that Labor Day BBQ tomorrow. Maybe the best track of the bunch I yanked off because of audio issues, but here’s all 45 seconds of it, compliments of Flying Lotus and Thudercat.

Another one in the books, and a particularly eventful one due to my reinstated unemployment. Everybody wins when Matt doesn’t need to put on pants until he starts getting paranoid about life still existing outside his front door and ventures to the coffee shop (To get attacked by a fucking dog).

What’s even stranger than our recent bout of productivity is the fact people are actually reading this shit. Some of you guys even repost these links on Facebook and Twitter and, on behalf of all of us, that is the coolest favor ever. Thank You.

Best Thing That Happened in July

– BFF’s of this blog Jurassic Pop put out the cassette release of Mac DeMarco from Russian Recording in Bloomington, IN, and it very much blew up. They were on Pitchfork and Spin and a bunch of other reputable domains. If you’re not familiar with their catalog, I recommend listening to every single fucking release. I’m not kidding you, they’re all incredible.

Apologies for the prolonged absence — especially considering my last past post prior to this one was a music review that was one giant step short of a music review. As it turns out, it’s much easier to contribute steady content to a blog when you’re unemployed.

And actually, this month’s playlist is going to be much shorter (ready to opt out of my lazy ass blog yet?), but that’s by design. I seriously doubt you guys are interested in hearing a 3 hour playlist that jumps from genre to genre, and would probably opt for 10 standouts or at least a compilation that had some flow. See? I’m always thinking of you guys, even if it’s not necessarily evident.

A quick recap of the month that was. Things definitely hit a low point on the 15th, as evidenced by the tears of twitter . What a fascinating part the internet played in this national tragedy, from the good (strangers offering up nearby sanctuaries to Boston Marathon runners on Twitter) to the bad (misinformation flying around, ex. 12 dead) to the hilarious (Reddit detectives, CNN’s credibility). For the rest of my life I’ll remember sitting in my Glendale, California apartment, dialed into a live stream of the Boston Police Scanner at 1:30 am and being so overwhelmingly captivated. I’m still not exactly sure how we caught him…something involving a boat, a pool of blood and a negotiator….but we did, and everybody simultaneously swelled with patriotism that was reminiscent of Charlie from Always Sunny.

I’d like to think we’re still riding that wave of positivity, considering April was a generally kick-ass month. It got warm for a bunch of you, so congrats on that. Additionally, the only relevant, yet extremely entertaining portion of the NBA season is underway. Also, I lived vicariously through friends Jurassic Pop back in Lafayette on what was apparently a wildly successful Record Store Day 2013 at Purdue. That reminds me though, if I hear about another Racist incident at Purdue, I’m flying back and kicking everybody’s ass, whether they were involved or not. Forewarning.

I’d like to punctuate your month with an extremely strong April edition of Cool Songs. I was floored by more than few tracks over the past month, and I’m happy to have this outlet to share them with you guys. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Oh and I almost forgot, Empire of the Sun released a new video for their painfully vanilla single “Alive”. The video on the other hand…My god this video. If you’re familiar and appreciative of their brand of hilarious vanity, this will not disappoint.

Lukach’s picks

“Dis Ain’t What U Want” – Lil Durk

“I can’t do no shows, cuz I’m terrified of my city/ They say I terrify my city,” Durk wails on this monolith of a track that’s his first single from Def Jam. He doesn’t really fuck around, and that’s about the most vulnerable you’ll find him, when “Chicago Hates You” turns into “Chicago Hates Me.” The rest is as menacing as ever, and Paris Bueller’s drop in the middle of the chorus is crushing.

“Fuk Yo Life” – Fat Trel

Trel sputters a lot about killing and fucking here and it’s actually pretty chill considering the content. 12 Hunna’s beat is the matter here tho, with all the literal bells and whistles giving it a kineticism that works for Trel to stuff his syllables through.

“Sound of Love” – Cassie feat. Jeremih

Slow jam of the month award right here– it feels like a Cassie song featuring Jeremih, but his voice is the one that’s more dynamic here, helping it to really swell by that last chorus and making you want to fuck immediately every time you hear it. Cassie’s a super-solid complement here though, don’t get me wrong. Sexiest song I’ve heard in a minute.

This is a Kid Cudi song featuring Michael Bolton about bringing your friends to their after party, and it’s 9 minutes long. I also love it, so there’s that.

“Grins” – Charli XCX

“Ha Ha Ha” is the best song from this new Charli XCX album, but “Grins” stretches out her gothic groans over hella drums that gives it a lighter touch, even when she’s wailing. It carries none of the weight of the rest of the album, but all the tangible melody. “Beaches and oceans for my baby…”

“SOS in Bel Air” – Phoenix

One of those songs that makes you feel like you’re running, or you should be going somewhere or something, but when the break comes before it falls into the chorus, it catches a little reset before Thomas Mars gets to croon “Alone, alone alone” over and over–that intimacy permeates the rest of the track once you hear it and it’s all catchy, cool and invigorating together, somehow.

“Unreal” – Hebronix

The dude from Yuck is making his own music now, and this one is super slow, super lonely, and SUPER druggy. Must be high to listen. (Not really but it certainly works to your benefit.)

“Young and Beautiful” – Lana Del Rey

LDR’s Gatsby contribution is the best, but only by default, because the rest of those curated by Shawn Carter for the Gatsby soundtrack really have no business being on a Gatsby soundtrack, unless it was adapted by Baz Luhrmann with a soundtrack from Jay-Z, so, yeah.